France was among the first countries to officially crack down on the prevalence of skinny models walking on the runway earlier this year, passing legislation that required models to meet a predetermined BMI cut-off. With Paris obviously being the home of one of the world's most seminal fashion, that was some pretty bold move and it now looks like the British are looking to possibly follow suit.
Naturally, the council in charge of leading an inquiry into the issue don't want legislation to be the first step. They'd rather ease into it and draft up a code of conduct for organizations to follow. But if needed, Caroline Nokes of the Parliamentary Group on Body Image, says that an actual bill could be used as a last resort. While BMI isn't the perfect measuring stick for fitness and health, it's a start. The model who started moving of the gears in Britain, Rosie Nelson, admits that there should be some other measurement rather than BMI. Meanwhile, Nokes says she's also heard from agencies and models who want these practices to change as well, forcing designers to make clothes that are easier to fit into.
This is an issue that has been talked about ad nauseam, so it's nice to see that there is at least some action being taken. How much it will really affect the industry remains to be seen, but there's no denying the fact that season after season, designers are constantly being accused of using models that are too skinny by any measure.
